Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Things are still crazy at work but I wanted to take a minute to wish my quilting gals and their families a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving. If any of you are traveling this weekend, please be extra careful! There are a lot of TURKEYS out there and I'm not talking about the gobblers we will be eating on Thursday! LOL

All of you have added another dimension to my quilting life with your enthusiasm, expertise, and genuine love for this wonderful handcraft and for that I am thankful!! I also treasure the sharing of our lives, the simple things that happen every day, the ups and downs, the joys and tears. We were brought together by our love for fabric and quilting and have become friends spread out all over this big world. It's pretty amazing!!

On my quilting front, I broke ground on a new quilt which is a challenge quilt with my guild due in December. I have the top done but for the borders and some embellishments. I will be working diligently on it this weekend. It is definitely a design which is outside of the box for me. Once we present them on December 12, I will post pictures. I can't do it sooner since some of the guild members read my blog and it's a super secret challenge. The infamous "Mystery Quilt from Hell" is quilted and just needs be bound. I'll be glad to get that one done!! With the cold weather hitting us this week, I have picked up the knitting needles and started some scarves for quick Christmas gifts.

Lastly, I am headed to my 30th high school class reunion this Saturday. I am meeting with a good HS friend I haven't seen in 10 years though we have been emailing and Christmas carding each other for quite some time. She is coming from Seattle. Reunions are always interesting. I went to the 5th, 10th and 20th reunions and had a great time. I know lots of people don't like reunions but I really enjoyed high school and had a great group of friends. It's always nice to reconnect.

Monday, November 06, 2006

I really love pictorial quilts. It justs amazes me how quilters can take bits and pieces of fabric and make it actually look like a painting. I took several pictures of these types of quilts. I confess that I have a photo of my son, when he was three, that I always thought would make a great pictorial quilt. But I must also confess that I am a little nervous about delving into this venue of quilting. I have done one small quilt and enjoyed the process. It gave me a sense of freedom since there was no pattern, no right or wrong way to do it. But at times it was frustrating, trying to figure out HOW to do one thing or another. At any rate, these quilts are just phenomenal examples of what can be done with some fabric, paint, photos and embellishments.

This first quilt is called "Hope" and was made by Darcia Berg of Joliet, Illinois. All around the inner border is written in script a verse by Oliver Wendell Holmes ( if I remember correctly). It took my breath away!

This next quilt was made by Emily Pousa( I may have her name spelled wrong as I was writing quickly) of St. Charles, Illinois. It is called "Tulip Queen of Night". This quilt was probably queen size and the location where it was placed as you came around the corner, it hit you right in the eye.

The quilt above is called "Whose woods are these?" by Jane Kennedy. I wonder if she was thinking about Robert Frost's poem when she made this. It is really lovely, calming. The moon was appliqued and the rays coming off it were fibers.

This last quilt is called "They Popped Again" made by Louise Schotz of Irma, WI. I just love the ferns interwoven with the Poppies.

Well, hope everyone enjoyed the tour!! If you ever get a chance to go to Houston, do it. The pictures really don't do these quilts justice. The workmanship is exquisite.

I won't be posting to my blog as often. Work is consuming me ( we have a BIGGG trial coming up and I'm buried) and the holiday season is upon us. What little time I have will be used for shopping and hopefully QUILTING. I hope to post every couple of weeks with my own personal quilting progress and pictures instead of everyone else's. LOL . Until the next posting, QUILT TIL YOU WILT, LADIES~

Amy at The Calico Cat graciously put a link for the IQA Houston Quilt Show winners on her blog so I am going to post the photos that I took which caught my eye and, although they may not have received a ribbon, are still winners!!

This quilt is circular and is appropriately called "Circle the Wagons" by Kathy Lichtendahl from Clark, Wyoming. How clever is she!! First to make a circular quilt(lots of bias and a binding nightmare) and using the wagon wheel theme, I thought it was great. I am including a closeup of one of the pie shapes. I absolutely loved this one!

This quilt was made by Emiko Toda Loeb of New York and is called "Rose Dance". Don't know where the name comes in but this quilt is spectacular. It is double sided! Imagine not only piecing the front of the quilt but completely piecing the back!

Well, it seems that Blogger has decided I have reached my "loading limit" so I'll give you an update on my quilting status. I know that it is the beginning of November and people are reviewing their October progress (mine- not much!) and posting goals for November. But I am not posting goals or even discussing what I think or hope to accomplish this month. Life is just too crazy lately so if any quilting gets done THAT WILL BE A GOAL!! LOL

This weekend my guild had a quilting workshop. We could do the chosen project or "do our own thing" which is what I did. I bought a quilt kit in Jacksonville, FL in September two years ago with the idea that it would be completed for my DH thatDecember. It is a McKenna Ryan block from one of her BOMs. It's a wreath with two chickadees sitting under a black top hat. Super cute!! Sewww, after searching in my stash closet for 45 minutes. I found the kit! This has actually been on my list of "to dos'" on my blog. It is fusible applique ( in my opinion the only way to applique or at least, the only way I'll ever applique!! *g*) . I got the center block done and fused and now need to add the borders. So this will be done for Christmas. I am also still plodding along on the quilting of my "beloved" Mystery quilt. I have five more blocks to quilt and then I can add the binding. I am also working on the wool Christmas ornaments that I prepped and took to Houston. They are coming along!!

Tomorrow, I hope to show you my goodies from Houston. I took pics yesterday. They have been sitting in a pile on my cutting table since I returned. I didn't want to put them away before I took the pics as they would get swallowed in the stash closet and I may never see them again!!

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

I am back from Houston and all I can say is WoWWWw!! It was exhausting, exciting, inspiring and lots of fun!!! I want all of you to know that you went with me in spirit. As I was looking at all of the fantastic quilts with workmanship which was unbelieveably perfect, I was taking pictures with all of you in mind -the piecers, the kitty lovers, the nature lovers, the appliquers, the traditional and the mavericks. I will be posting pictures as Blogger allows and hope that I captured something that will inspire everyone.

Here is a picture of the four of us - I'm on the left! We spent all of Friday at Schoolhouse which was 15 minute and 30 minute demos or presentations (15 different sessions) on everything from A-Z in the quilting industry. I attended presentations by fabric designers, Jean Wells on her new book, many different pattern designers, Barbara Brackman on her feelings regarding the Underground Railroad and the use of quilts, etc., etc.

Friday nite was "Sample Spree". This is definitely NOT for the fainthearted!! I picked up some FQs and a jelly roll of strips at Moda's table. A preview of their spring line! I also bought some great stitchery patterns and beads as well as FQ bundles.

I'll fill you in on more of our adventures and my purchases later but now for some quilts!!!! I was humbled and inspired by the imagination, artistic talent and workmanship of the quilters presenting this year.

I'm going to start with a quilt that will please the piecers and kitty lovers as well. This quilt is called "Kitty Corner" made by Janet Fogg.

This quilt was approximately queen size. The black diamonds were all quilted with feathers.

This is a closeup of Kitty! I think any dog in her vicinity would run!!!

The next quilt is one of two quilts made by Michiko Takauwa of Japan. IQA had a special exhibit of her quilts that took your breath away. This one I took for Libby who is working so diligently on her hexagons. It is called "Eternal Flower Basket" and is made up of 163,128 HEXAGONS. The first picture is of the entire quilt which was approximately queen sizeand the second picture is a closeup of some of the hexagons that made up the flowers in the basket. Each petal of each flower contained hexagons that made up a basket of flowers. I can't imagine how long it took this unbelievably talented quilter to put this quilt together. I have picture of another of her amazing quilts which I will share but Blogger has been extremely SLOW in loading pics so I will save it for another day. Well, hope these have whet your appetite. I will try to load a few more over the next few days. Now back to reality, laundry beckons!!

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About Me

I have been quilting for 15 years. I have a Handiquilter Avante 18 named Ava.I share my home with my hubby and two kitties, Mr. B and Miss Holly. I have one son who is living in Reno, Nevada. I work for an attorney as a litigation paralegal. I LOVE FABRIC!!!